Sunday, June 5, 2016

Light Shines Even in the Dark Prison of Death: Homily for the Sunday of the Blind Man in the Orthodox Church

Acts 16:16-34

John 9:1-38

It is so easy for people to be blind
to the truth about themselves. It is not
hard to notice when others do not see the truth about what they do, but it is
often quite difficult to notice our own blindness. If we are honest, we will acknowledge that we
are quite skilled in shutting our eyes to uncomfortable truths. That should not be surprising, for we are inhabitants
of a world darkened by sin and death. Like
the man in today’s gospel lesson, we are all blind because we lack full spiritual
clarity; and we cannot simply give ourselves the ability to behold the truth
perfectly. Unfortunately, we often
prefer the darkness of our impaired vision to the brilliant light of Christ’s
empty tomb.

The blind man in today’s gospel did not even know that Jesus Christ was
the Son of God at the time of the miracle.
He apparently did not even ask
Him for healing. Instead, the Savior was
simply doing the work of His Father as the Light of the world when He restored
his sight. The healing of the blind man
is an icon of Who Christ is, a sign of what happens when the Son of God shares
His life with us. Christ spat into the
ground, anointed the man’s eyes with the clay, and told him to wash. These details reflect that the Lord in His
Incarnation truly entered into our life as the God-Man, becoming in His
humanity one of those created from the dust of the earth even as He remains
fully divine. It is through the washing of baptism that we put Him on like a
garment and enter into His death in order to rise to the new life for which He
created us in the first place. His
glorious resurrection on the third day is the fulfillment of His restoration
and healing of humanity in the divine image and likeness. In Him, our blindness dies that His words may
be fulfilled in us: “Blessed are the
pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matt. 5:8)

Remember how dark it was at the Pascha
service when one candle was lit with the words:
“Come receive the Light from the Light and glorify Christ, Who is Risen
from the dead.” And then after we sang
the Lord’s resurrection outside in candle light, we returned to a brilliantly
lit church all decked out in white. Not
only is Pascha a celebration of Christ’s resurrection, but also of ours through
Him. And that resurrection is not simply
a future hope, but already a present reality when we find healing from the
blinding power of sin and death in our lives.
His resurrection has made it possible for us to participate in the
light-filled joy of holiness for which He breathed life into us in the first
place. It has opened the eyes of our
souls to His glory.

Our epistle reading provides us with
another icon of what it looks like when the darkness is overcome by light. The
jailer was ready to kill himself rather than endure the penalty that awaited
him for letting his prisoners escape after the earthquake. In the brutal world of the Roman Empire, a
cruel death awaited him for losing his captives. The man was so shocked when St. Paul assured
him that they were all still in their cells that he asked how to find
salvation. Christ’s resurrection destroyed the prison of Hades, opened its
doors, and set its prisoners free. Now
in this miracle, a man who was literally a slave to death had the eye of his
soul opened to the light. He was set
free from despair, received the washing of baptism, and began a new life.

The jailer may have known nothing
about Jesus Christ before the earthquake, even as the blind man did not know
that Jesus Christ was the Son of God until after his sight was restored. One said, “What must I do to be saved?” and
the other asked “And Who is, He, Sir, that I may believe in Him?” Here we see that true spiritual knowledge of
Christ is Christ Himself. By His
merciful initiative, He enables us to participate in Him, to experience and
know Him by grace. The Lord gave neither
of these men mere ideas, rules, or feelings.
No, He made them true participants in life-changing spiritual truth, in
His own divine energies. He is the Light
that they beheld. He released them from
the dark prisons they had known.

In these last days of the season of
Pascha, we must learn from their examples to open the eyes of our souls as
fully as possible to the healing light of the Savior. None of us has perfect knowledge of our sins,
of course, but can we all name some fairly obvious ways in which blindness has
remained in us. By virtue of putting on
Christ in baptism and being filled with the Holy Spirit in chrismation, we all
have the spiritual clarity to know generally in what ways we have chosen to
remain in the dark prison of the tomb.
The good news of Pascha is that Christ has shattered the doors and chains
of that prison. He has opened the eyes
of us who have always been blind. He has
become one of us so fully that He has made even death itself a passageway to
life. He has made even the darkest night
radiant with His divine glory.

As hard as it may be to believe, the
Lord enables each of us to behold and shine with His holy Light. The more that we embrace Him through faith,
love, and repentance, the clearer vision we will have of the remaining spots of
darkness in our lives. Keep in mind that
great saints do not pat themselves on the back about becoming more holy; to the
contrary, they are all the more aware of their sins and their constant need for mercy. They know the truth about themselves more
clearly before the infinite holiness of God, which inspires them to deep
humility.

We must not fall prey, then, to the
temptation to discouragement when we catch a glimpse of the darkness that is
still in us. Due to our pride, we may
want to abandon the serious pursuit of the Christian life when growing
spiritual health enables us to see our own sinfulness more clearly. That is the problem with better vision: we may not like what we see. Due to our sloth and laziness, we may want to put aside prayer, fasting, forgiveness, serving our neighbors, or other
spiritual disciplines because they require effort and we do not do them
particularly well. And the more we advance in them, the more we
will see how much room we have for growth.

When such temptations arise, we must
remember that our goal is not to accomplish anything that can be measured
according to the standards of this world, for we seek to experience something
different from anything else in this life.
To behold the divine glory as we share in the life of Christ is an
eternal goal, a transcendent reality that cannot be compared with anything
else. It is true, real, spiritual
experience and knowledge. The full opening of our spiritual eyes is another way
of speaking of the purity of heart that, as Christ said, enables us to see
God.

Our awareness of the darkness in our
lives is simply a realistic reminder that we have an infinitely long way to go
in the journey to theosis. Instead of giving up, we must use our failings
and struggles as inspirations to press on in obedience to the only One Who has
conquered sin and death, the only One Who has united divinity and humanity in
His own Person. He is the Light shining
in the darkness of this world and of our own sick and weak souls. Though it is not easy, we must continue to do
what it takes to open ourselves more fully to His brilliant light. As those who have beheld the glory of His
resurrection, returning to the dark prison of the tomb is simply not an
option. Instead, we must keep moving further
into the Light, into Him, trusting that He is still at work giving sight to the
blind and setting free the prisoners of sin and death. And, yes, that includes you and me.

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Fr. Philip has addressed audiences at St. Herman Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kodiak, AK, and St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary, NY. He has also earned lots of frequent flyer miles as an invited participant in international Orthodox consultations on social ethics in Greece, Romania, and Syria.

He often introduces visiting groups of students from local universities to the Orthodox faith. He has also spoken about Eastern Christianity at Methodist, Episcopal, and Church of Christ congregations in Abilene. You may listen to his podcasts on www.ancientfaithradio.org. He has also been interviewed on “Come Receive the Light,” an internationally syndicated radio program of the Orthodox Christian Network (www.myocn.net). Anyone wanting to invite him to speak may send an email to: plemasters@mcm.edu.